As the calendar year turns we have a year’s worth of accomplishments to recognize, and a new year to look forward to.
What a powerful time it can be to reflect. A review of where we’ve been and a clear understanding of where we are going give us momentum and courage to establish what we need to do to succeed.
We’ve all heard of ‘New Year Resolutions’, where people set certain goals to better their lives. (Whether they stick it out and make significant progress or not is a topic for another article). The purpose of this message is to encourage you to use this turning of a new year to your advantage.
A thorough understanding of what we have done for the past 12 months provides us with actual details of our progress. Did we reach our goals? Did we make some progress? And if so, what progress did we make? Did we even set goals? This information will help us understand our strengths and our weaknesses. If you did set goals but did not achieve them, ask yourself what you made more important than achieving your goals. Next, we need to set new goals or set up our game plan for achieving what we wish to accomplish for the next period of time.
Knowing where we’ve been and where we’re headed gives us a true picture of what it’s going to take to get there. Already we’ve built up momentum, and the New Year is an added incentive to change our existing habits.
When setting new goals for the year, follow these tips:
1) Ink Them – Written goals get done. When goals can be re-read they don’t get forgotten.
2) Balance Them – Achieving a well-balanced series of goals ensures that all areas of our life are evolving in harmony. Goals are not just career related. Our professional, spiritual, mental, physical, financial, and material wants, as well as family, community, and personal time all need nurturing. Be sure to invest time in a well-balanced triad for success, which includes happiness, health, and wealth.†
3) Share Them – Discussing our choices with the people in our lives helps us because someone else is a witness to our desires, thereby creating a potential support or accountability system for us. Sharing family goals with our family, for example, helps everyone understand our intentions and opens conversation with others involved.
4) Measure Them – Goals need to be measurable at regular intervals. Writing “I want to enjoy life more” is not as easy to evaluate as “By the end of March, I want to be organized into a new routine that accommodates my goals. By July I want to have begun feeling less stressed and able to take time to reflect on my progress so far, relax, and enjoy myself. By December I want to have all items crossed off my to-do list of actions required to reach my goals, and feel joy in my life daily.”
Feel the fresh ambiance that a new year brings when you have the confidence and momentum of being aware – aware of how far you’ve come; knowing exactly where you’re headed; and clear about just how you are going to get there!
I Salute You – To The New Year!